FAI Free Flight World Cup 2025

1. Mike Mc Keever (Head)

2. Charlie Jones (F1A & F1Q), Ken Bauer (F1B & F1C)

3. Martin Schroedter (F1A & F1Q), Per Findahl (F1B & F1C)

Advance information

A “WhatsApp” group was created and used by organizers, competitors and observers. The Contest Director was able to share information, to update field weather conditions and to answer questions in order to help competitors be well informed ahead of their event.

Schedule of competition

13 Feb 2025 - F1A, F1A-Junior, F1Q, F1Q-Junior
14 Feb 2025 – F1B, F1B-Junior, F1C

Duration of rounds

1 hour

Breaks between rounds

No breaks between rounds

Maximum durations in each round

For F1A & F1Q, on 13 Feb, 5 rounds were flown. Round 1 flights were reported to have travelled 1.6km, nearly reaching the access road. The duration of Round 2 was reduced from 4min to 3min. The durations of Rounds 3 & 4 were further reduced from 3min to 2min. Rounds 6 & 7 were cancelled as wind speed was forecast to continue to increase.
For F1B & F1C, on 14 Feb, 7 rounds were flown. Round 1 was 4-minutes. Round 2 was reduced to from 4 to 3 minutes due to an expected shift in wind direction that could cause models to leave the field. The wind shift settled, and Round 4 max was changed from 3-minutes to 4-minutes. Round 5 to 7 were 3-minutes.
F1C Fly-off 1 at 16:10, 6-minute max with 7 flyers, poles randomly assigned
F1B Fly-off 1 at 16:30, 6-minute max with 25 flyers, poles randomly assigned.
F1C Fly-off 2 at 17:10, 8-minute max with 3 flyers, same poles as FO1.
F1B Fly-off 2 postponed to next morning due to long chase from FO1 and low light conditions.
F1B Fly-off 2 held 15 Feb at 7:10, 11-minute max with 15 flyers. At “red” flight line, new pole positions to align with wind direction. Flyers were notified of new pole position shortly after completion of FO1.

Interruptions and delays

On 13 Feb, the F1A & F1Q competition occurred under windy and rainy conditions. Round 4 started at 11:00 and was paused at 11:25 due to wind gusts 5-6 m/s and a rain cell moving through the area. Competitors were able to secure their equipment and take cover. At the time the round was paused, only 2 F1Q competitors had not flown the round. Round 4 resumed at 11:50 and ended at 12:25, a 25-minute delay. Round 5 started at 12:30 with winds of 3 m/s. Rounds 6 & 7 were not flown. A 12-minute flyoff was announced for the next morning, to start at 7:00 (F1A) and 7:20 (F1Q) on the “red” line on the North end of the field. Flyers were randomly assigned pole numbers, and notified via the WhatsApp group messaging. A flyoff line, separate from the scheduled Day 2 flight line, was created.
On Feb 14, the F1A flyoff was started at 7:10 with a 11-minute max (versus the announced 12-minute max), so as to not exceed the Neuron altimeter’s software limit of 11 minutes. The Neuron’s manufacturer responded very quickly to verify the upper limit, and also provided instructions to allow for a 12min max to be used. Given the conditions, a 11-minute max was deemed sufficient.

Weather and visibility

On 13 Feb, the F1A & F1Q competition occurred under windy and rainy conditions. At 07:00, winds were 3.5m/s from west and rain was forecast, visibility was very good. The “blue” flight line on the West edge of the field was selected, which has 1.3 km to nearest trees, and 3 km to main road

Flight line - changes of position

F1A & F1Q regular rounds were all flown from west edge of field, “Blue” line.
All fly-offs and F1B & F1C rounds were flown from the north end of field, “Red” line.

Number of starting poles

F1A: 7 poles, F1Q: 4 poles, F1B: 13 poles, F1C: 5 poles
F1B competitors moved 2 poles per round, other classes moved 1 pole per round

Number of competitors per pole

4 competitors per pole

Local rules or deviations from Sporting Code

Timekeepers were not provided; competitors were required to time.

Observations on timekeeping

3 timekeeping events highlighted the urgent need to change from human timers to altimeters for all rounds.
In the WhatsApp communication and before each Fly-off, the competitors were told to declare any altimeter to the timer and ensure the serial number is written on the timecard. They were told there is a 30-minute window after the flight to protest the result.
Incident 1: Friend-of-the-flyer provides time after 2 assigned timers lose sight
Fly-off with 11-minute max was held in early morning, 2 degC, low ground fog/haze in distance, clear skies. Each competitor assigned 2 timers. Assigned timers were very experienced flyers, and were using binoculars. The competitor did not have a certified altimeter on his plane. Competitor launched his plane with no other planes in sky. A friend of the flyer started timing the flight behind assigned timers. Assigned timer 1 lost model at 6 minutes in the ground haze. Assigned timer 2 lost model at 8 minutes. “Friend of flyer” timer stated he had model in sight, and timed it to 10+ minutes. The “friend of flyer” time was written on the scorecard.
Incident 2: Flight lost in the sun, and wrong model timed to ground
Fly-off with 11-minute max was held in early morning, clear skies, winds less than 1m/s. Competitor had a model with white wings and red-tips, unusual in the sea of black carbon, and a certified Mini-Neuron altimeter. Both timers are very experienced flyers with binoculars. Nearly all 15 flyers go off at the same time. Both timers have model in their binoculars and are verbally confirming its flight path. Timer 1 announces he lost model as it gets near the sun. Timer 2 is struggling with the sun too, but confident he is still following the model with the distinct red wing tips amongst other models. Timer 1 finds the model again. Both timers follow the flight to the ground and click off their watch’s with 386 & 385 seconds. The competitor challenges the flight time. The plane’s Mini-Neuron reports 436 seconds, for a difference of 51 seconds. The competitor checks the un-official altimeter data on the Simplicity timer which shows the flight time to be 435 seconds. No other competitor reported a flight time near 385 seconds, so it is unlikely the wrong model was timed from the start. It is apparent that a distinctively coloured model flying along with other models at a leisurely pace towards the morning sun can be lost by a coordinated pair of skilled timers, with binoculars. It is not known how many other timers watching one of the other nearly identical black models flying into the same sun at the same time were lost too. In this case, 2 altimeters from 2 different vendors gave equivalent times.
Incident 3: Timer gives a better time or a worse time…
Known to occur, is not likely going to become a protest, is the case where the timer gives a better/worse time than actually occurred. The flyer may or may not know the mis-timing occurred. Timing is a process. Failure to perform one or more of the steps will result in an incorrect time. The timer followed the wrong plane, gave a generous round-up, fumbled starting/stopping with the watch, binoculars fogged up, doesn’t clock off when the plane goes out of sight, doesn’t want to admit their eyesight is not great, gets distracted while watching the plane, they are colour-blind and can’t tell the difference between planes ….
Requiring a certified altimeter in this case would have:
Prevented spoken or unspoken questioning about the integrity of the flyer and/or the “friend of flyer”. Timing is integral to this sport, and have built in a “I time you, you time me” methodology. The flyer’s integrity can also come into question, receiving a seemingly favourable result, regardless of the result’s correctness.
Prevent ill-feelings about being a timer. When we witness behind the back chatter questioning the result, it gives a reason to not be a timer. Why risk your personal reputation, when you could stand back and let someone take the risk.
Overcome the difficulty visually tracking an object that has gotten a lower profile, flies for a longer duration, flies higher faster than in past years. There is a lot of pressure to time models, but they are no longer bright-colourful, distinctive shapes cloaked in tissue or icarex that glows in the sunlight or makes thick dark ink spot against a white sky. They are now a slender, black stealthy dart, that goes up in a mass of similar slender black darts.
Acknowledge the Gage R&R (repeatability & reproducibility) for visual timing is much worse than an altimeter. The result doesn’t have to be, and probably shouldn’t be, decided by a single point on a x-y plot. The altimeter data could benefit from some post-processing to arrive at the final result. Simple math could define the probability of the certain elevation or duration.

Prize-giving and issue of results - confirm organisers provide results with full names, nationalities and number of juniors

Prizes for F1A, F1A-Junior, F1Q, F1Q-Woman, F1C, F1C-Junior, F1C-Woman were given at awards ceremony on evening of 14 Feb.
Prizes for F1B, F1B-Junior, and F1B-Woman were given at the completion of the F1B fly-off 2 on 15 Feb
No competitors for F1A-Woman, F1Q-Junior

Any incident or accident

Protests

None